Scribe pre-empts definitive account of influencer culture

Scribe has pre-empted Olivia Yallop's definitive account of influencer culture. 

Sarah Braybrooke and Molly Slight at Scribe UK pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) in Under The Influence, the first full-length narrative non-fiction book exploring how online influencers are shaping our culture. Scribe acquired the rights from Max Edwards at newly created Aevitas Creative Management UK.

Braybrooke and Slight said: "We hear a lot of criticism of social media, but many commentators are writing as though from outside it. Olivia is a real insider, and like Jia Tolentio she has the ability to reveal the ways that the internet is changing us on an intimate, personal level. As youth audiences increasingly turn towards online influencers, we are living through a revolution in communication parallel to that which occurred in the mid-20th century. Olivia has arrived just as we look for someone to explain what we are seeing; she has the potential to become the Marshall McLuhan of the Instagram generation."

Under the Influence will explore the evolution of the influencer industry from reality TV through blogging, vlogging, and legacy social media such as Vine and Tumblr to the current moment, in which YouTube and Instagram dominate. Examining the new media landscape that the rise of online celebrity has created, it will provide an insider account of an industry which is set to dominate our future—the economy of influence will be valued at $15bn globally by 2022.

To write the book, Yallop, who works closely with influencers in her role as a digital strategist and commentator on technology and pop culture, will go further by training to become one herself, said Scribe. She will enrol in an influencer bootcamp, go undercover at fan meet-ups and conventions, and have an influencer makeover. She will shadow online celebrities to understand how digital personas are built, uncover what it is really like to live a branded life, and explore the "social stock market" in which they trade. 

Yallop added: "I am delighted to be working with Scribe to investigate the impact of our current influencer revolution on everything from entertainment to the economy. The industry is accelerating at an astonishing pace, generating enormous wealth and remaining miles ahead of regulation or legislation, in a situation not unlike our own pre-recession financial services industry. To date, this complex new ecosystem has been maligned and misunderstood—an issue which Under the Influence will rectify."

Under The Influence will be published in 2021.